January 7, 2014: Space Telescope Science Institute astronomers have been involved in nearly a
decade of development, construction, and testing of the world's most advanced
instrument for directly photographing and analyzing planets around other stars.
Called the Gemini Planet Imager (GPI), the instrument will be used to
photograph faint planets next to bright stars and probe their atmospheres,
and to study dusty disks around young stars. GPI was used to image Beta
Pictoris b, a planet orbiting the star Beta Pictoris. The bright star Beta
Pictoris is hidden behind a mask in the center of the image that blocks out
the glare of the central star.